MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican lawmakers voted on Tuesday
to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other enclosed public
spaces across the country, which counts some 65,000
cigarette-related deaths each year.

Joining a string of newly smoke-free countries from Britain
to Uruguay, Mexico will slap fines on establishments that
breach the ban, and could subject recalcitrant smokers caught
illicitly puffing to up to 36 hours in jail.

The bill, which extends a partial smoking ban in place in
the capital since January, was approved by the Senate after
being passed by the lower house late last year. President
Felipe Calderon is expected to sign it into law in the next few
days.

The partial ban, permitting smoking in specified areas, was
slapped on Mexico City's bars and eateries in January, although
a major restaurant chain is fighting it on the grounds it
infringes smokers' rights.

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Many Mexicans use cigarettes socially, filling bars and
cantinas with clouds of smoke, and it is still viewed as
acceptable for politicians and executives to light up during
business meetings.

The nationwide law will ban smoking in indoor workplaces
and enclosed public spaces such as offices, schools, hospitals
and on public transport. Smoking in bars and restaurants will
only be permitted in separate rooms or on open-air terraces.

"There must be well-defined, cut-off areas, so that
nonsmokers are not continually breathing in tobacco smoke and
so that smokers can find a space where they are not sharing the
same air," said Sen. Ernesto Saro, president of the Senate
health committee.

Establishments found breaching the law could be fined up to
500,000 pesos ($46,000), or double that for a repeat offense.

The law also calls for larger warnings on cigarette packets
and images of damage to internal organs from inhaling tobacco.

It gives authorities the right to close shops that sell
tobacco to children, and prohibits the sale of individual
cigarettes, a common practice on street stalls in a country
where many earn just a handful of dollars a day.

Mexico counts around 13 million smokers among its
population of 105 million.